PESHAWAR, March 19: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday sought comments from the NWFP government in reply to a writ petition challenging the ban on the private practice by government doctors and the introduction of institutional-based practice by the government.

The bench, comprising Justice Khalida Rachied and Justice Abdur Rauf Lughmani, took up for preliminary hearing the petition filed on behalf of the teachers’ associations of all the medical colleges and the Post-Graduate Medical Institution (PGMI) in the province.

The petitioners are: Khyber Medical College’s Teachers Association President Dr Siddiqur Rehman, General-Secretary Dr Ijaz Khattak, PGMI Teachers Association President Dr Arshid Jawed and General-Secretary Dr Jalil Khan.  

They claimed that they represented all the teachers of Khyber Medical College, Ayub Medical College, Saidu Medical College, Gomal Medical College, the PGMI and Lady Reading Hospital.

The petitioners’ counsel, Qazi Muhammad Anwer, contended that the notification, the provincial government had issued on Feb 12 to ban the private practice by the doctors, was based on mala fide intentions.

He argued that keeping in view the standard and capacity of the government hospitals, it would be difficult for the hospitals to cater to the needs of those patients who sought treatment from private doctors.

He remarked that it would be a great injustice with the poor patients, as preference would be given to the private patients, who visited those hospitals. “The major objective of the government is revenue generation through institutional-based practice,” he maintained.

The bench observed that doctors were government servants and all the rules and regulations applicable to other servants were also applicable to them.

The bench asked what would happen if like the doctors, the government servants of other departments started doing private practice after performing their official duties.

The petition named the respondents as the NWFP chief secretary, the health secretary, the federal government to be represented by the federal health secretary, the provincial health services director-general, the health services director of Fata, the chief executives of Hayatabad Medical Complex, Lady Reading Hospital and Khyber Teaching Hospital, all the districts Nazims in the province, all the executive district officers, health and all the medical superintendents.

The bench dismissed another petition, filed by Advocate Moazam Butt on behalf of an organization, Ideological Force of Pakistan, challenging the ban on the private practice by the doctors.

The bench observed that the petitioner was not an aggrieved party and it had no locus standi to file the petition.